- My.Trusted.MD
- Columns
- Healthy Living
- Heart Advisor
- Surgery Insider
- Fitness & Exercise
- Medical Imaging
- Nutrition & Life
- Skin Care & Beauty
- Wellness Report
- A Patient's Journey
- Insurance Dispatch
- Medical Bill Advisor
- Medical Marketing
- Physician EMR Review
- Practice Appraisal
- Entrepreneurship
- Medical Billing
- Healthcare PR
- New Health Leader
- Quality Advocate
- RHIO Monitor
- Hippocrates
- Personal Musings
- Bloggers
- About
- Contact
The soy controversy
Featured in: Nutrition & Life
The soy industry has managed to market a waste product as a health food, and gullible consumers are eating their way to health problems.Soy is often touted as healthy, and it can be if you pick your soy products carefully, but most of the soy that is on the market is actually very hard on our systems. I was completely fooled by the propaganda on soy and bought into this one hook, line and sinker, feeling virtuous switching to soy milk when I found out I was sensitive to poor quality dairy.
Like all grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, soybeans have a phytate layer to stop the beans from sprouting unless there is adequate moisture and warmth. The phytate layer in soybeans is much thicker than in other grains and legumes and cannot be eliminated with soaking, sprouting or long slow cooking. This means that soybeans are very difficult to digest, and the phytic acid reduces assimilation of calcium, magnesium copper, iron and zinc.
Soy interferes with protein digestion, and the soy estrogens are endocrine disruptors, (by binding with estrogen receptors) potentially creating fertility problems and breast or uterine cancer in women, and reducing testosterone in men. These soy phytoestrogens also are anti-thyroid agents, causing sluggish thyroids, possibly thyroid cancer, and weight gain.
Soy increases the body's requirement for B12 and Vitamin D. Soy food processing results in the formation of MSG, which is a well known neurotoxin (nerve poison), and soy contains high levels of aluminum which is known to be toxic to the nervous system and the kidneys. Unless labeled organic, assume that all soybean products are genetically modified.
It is worth noting that in January 2006, the American Heart Association reversed its position recommending the consumption of soy to lower the chance of heart disease, after reviewing 22 recent studies, and noted that the FDA's original recommendation was based on a single study funded by the soy industry. The soy that should be avoided are soy isolate products like:
- Soy milk
- Soy protein powder/bars
- Soy nuts
- Soy cheese
- Soy burgers
- Soy yogurt
- Soy ice cream
- Soy baby formula
By avoiding packaged food, one can avoid soy disguised on food labels as:
- Textured vegetable protein (TVP)
- Textured plant protein
- Hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP)
- Vegetable protein concentrate
- Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)
- Lecithin (usually from soy)
- Vegetable oil (usually from soy)
- Vegetable broth (usually from soy)
- Bouillon (usually from soy)
- Natural flavour (usually from soy)
- Mono-diglyceride(usually from soy)
Soy infant formula is a very bad idea, as the baby gets far too much phytoestrogen for its bodyweight, which messes with the baby's hormones even more than in adults. The estrogenic effects of soy on infants can be irreversible, resulting in delayed or absent sexual maturation in males, and extremely accelerated sexual maturation in females. Soy formula predisposes females to breast cancer and fertility problems later in life.
For those of you that are dairy intolerant and want a milky substitute for your whole-grain cereal, you may be able to tolerate a non-homogenized organic plain yogurt (raw is better if you can get it), or look for a rice milk or almond milk that does not have a vegetable oil listed in the ingredient list, or try organic full-fat coconut milk. Yummy! (No, the fat in coconut milk will not make you fat - lauric acid is a medium-chain fatty-acid that is metabolized immediately by the liver, and is very healthful for the body due to its antibacterial and antiviral factors.)
If you are a soy fan, naturally fermented and/or cultured ORGANIC soy (to avoid GMO) is very healthful, so look for foods like:
- Miso – try to find it with unrefined sea salt
- Tamari – wheat free
- Natto
- Tempeh
- Extra-firm Tofu with nigari
- Organic Edamame, cooked
- Organic Soybean sprouts
For more information on the problems with soy, read The Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America's Favorite Health Food by Kaayla Daniel.
Related Posts:
How hormones, neurotransmitters and steroids work
Fats - the good the bad and the ugly (It's not what you think!)
Deceptive Food Labels
Daniel, Kaayla T. The Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America's Favorite Health Food NewTrends Publishing, Inc., March, 2005.
Sacks, Frank M. et al. Soy Protein, Isoflavones, and Cardiovascular Health; An American Heart Association Science Advisory for Professionals from the Nutrition Committee Circulation 113: 1034-1044, 2006.
Sharpe RM et al. Infant feeding with soy formula milk: effect on testis and on blood testosterone levels in marmoset monkeys during the period of neonatal testicular activity. Human Reproduction Jul;17(7):1692-703, 2002.
Bell, DS et al.Use of soy protein supplement and resultant need for increased dose of levothyroxine Endocrine Pract. May-June; 7(3):193-4, 2001.
Gardner-Thorpe D. et al. Dietary supplements of soya flour lower serum testosterone concentrations and improve markers of oxidative stress in men. European J. of Clinical Nutrition Jan; 57(1):100-6, 2003.
Ju YH et al. Dietary genistein negates the inhibitory effect of tamoxifen on growth of estrogen-dependent human breast cancer Cancer Research May 1;62(9):2474-7, 2002.
Doerge DR and DM Sheehan. Goitrogenic and estrogenic activity of soy isoflavones Environmental Health Perpectives June;110 suppl 3:349-53, 2002.
Online at Myths and Truths about Soy Weston A Price Foundation
email
delicious
digg
technoratiAuthor Info
I have always been interested in what we can do to make ourselves as healthy as possible. We cannot change our genetics, but there is much that is within our control that can have an impact on whether we are healthy or whether we suffer with pain and disease.
I was the top graduating student at the University of Toronto in Physical and Health Education in 1992, where I studied anatomy, physiology, exercise physiology, nutrition and how exercise can improve health. In 1997 moved to Vancouver and started a personal-training business.
I became frustrated by my inability to help my clients through their various aches and pains, and pursued further education through the CHEK Institute in San Diego. I learned an incredible amount, and became far more effective with my clients suffering from low-back pain, but still found some clients did not respond as I felt they should and I didn't understand why.
I began to read and read. I began to appreciate how nutrition and other lifestyle factors can have a huge impact on healing or the lack of healing. It became obvious to me that there is a lot more to orthopeadic problems than simply looking at the physical. I took the CHEK Holistic Lifestyle Consultation course which solidified what I had been learning. Disease is a function of bodily systems being out of balance, and when we do what is necessary to bring the individual back into balance our health is restored.
My hope is that through this site you can travel the wellness journey with me and prevent illness, or if you are ill, you can learn some ways to become well again.
Trackbacks (0)
The URI to TrackBack this entry is: http://trusted.md/trackback/28873
Comments (23)
Hi Marc,
Thank you for making me aware of the study - I will add it to my research list.
It is really unfortunate that at best, nutritional labels are not clear as in the soy example, and at worst they are misleading or blatantly wrong, as in when ingredients are left off the label, (we are not told when there is powdered milk mixed into the lower fat milks for example). The fact that consumers don't know if something is GMO is a big problem due to potential allergic reactions to genes that were put into the food, for example. Labels need to be clear and completely accurate to give the consumer a chance to make an informed choice.
All the best!
Vreni Gurd
Health and Vitality Coach
BPHE, CHEK 3, HLC 2
www.wellnesstips.ca
I agree soy is not all it is cracked up to be. Especially for women. I called to see about Medifast or Nutrisystems as a diet option and when I shared I had endometiosis and was high estrogen was told by one of their dieticians to not go on these diets as they are very high in soy which is estrogen producing. All these products for women with tons of soy in them are not necessarily good for them. Especially all the American women with high estrogen. (which is linked to all kinds of health issues including breast cancer)
Thank you for your comment, and yes, estrogen dominance is common and problematic for women. As you stated, it is probably the cause of breast cancer, and also endometrial cancer or uterine cancer, and is also linked to cervical and ovarian cancer as well. High estrogen levels also promote weight gain.
Women that are estrogen dominant need to go out of their way to avoid extra sources of estrogen. There will be more on this subject in the next few weeks, so stay tuned ...
Vreni Gurd
Health and Vitality Coach
BPHE, CHEK 3, HLC 2
www.wellnesstips.ca
Are you experiencing fatigue or lack of energy? Now, there is an easy and effective solution. The Vitamin B-12 Patch is a revolutionary product developed to supply the body with vitamin B12 needed for.
Increase energy
Restore mental clarity
Help with memory loss
Reduce daily stress and irritability
For more detail visit www.b12patch.com
Hi there,
I sincerely hope that since you have been off soy that your health has improved. It is possible that you are particularly sensitive to estrogenic products, so you may find it worth while to be very careful with respect to the plastics in your life as well. Feel free to look at my post on plastic water bottles for more info.
The Weston A. Price Foundation is one of the few accurate websites with respect to nutrition that cuts through the garbage media and faulty information to the truth. They are trying to promote the idea that we need to consume nutrient-dense foods in order to maintain our health, and need to avoid manufactured, processed, refined, altered food, which results in inadequate nutrient intake, and as in the case of soy isolate products, very damaging effects due to the many problems it causes.
Thank you for your comment, and don't worry about venting. If more people who were harmed by soy post their comments, perhaps the idea that soy isolate products are healthful will be questioned more frequently, and others won't have to go through what you did.
All the best,
Vreni Gurd
Health and Vitality Coach
BPHE, CHEK 3, HLC 2
www.wellnesstips.ca
#7: battle
Our bodies have become no-man's-lands in the battle for profits. Food companies are trying to poison us with their "natural products" and the pharmaceutical companies are trying to cure us with their toxic wastes. Going back in the field and raising our own food is the smartest thing to do if we still value our lives. ~~ weight loss
Hi Pullo,
If one can grow some food even in pots on a porch - ie tomatoes, lettuce - whatever, using soil with that has not been sterilized and is therefore alive, and then fertilize the soil with compost rather than chemical fertilizers (if the fertilizer turns the water bright blue for example, it ain't good), we are doing something that is health giving to the planet and to our bodies, and taking back a tiny bit of control from the global market forces that are making us sick.
I agree, it is pretty tough to find real food that has not been tampered with, and our health and the health of planet earth is suffering as a result. And I agree that we need to go back to the small family mixed farm model rather than the huge agribusiness factory farm model if we value our lives.
Vreni Gurd
Health and Vitality Coach
BPHE, CHEK 3, HLC 2
www.wellnesstips.ca
#9: Soy is evil
Once I started developing health problems, I started "watching" what I ate. This included switching over to alot of vegetarian principles including eating soy.
After having a ton of difficulty with my thyroid, my endocrinologist asked me about my dietary intake. I told him. He said that soy can actually inhibit the usage of any thyroid medicine that you take. Plus since I have hashimoto's disease, soy puts a greater risk of throwing my numbers off then others.
Now instead of diligently watching what I eat so as I include soy, I now have to watch everything to make sure it doesn't creep into my diet. Many people don't realize how many common foods today have a soy byproduct in them. Its important to read labels and make yourself aware of what is in everything you eat.
#10: ORGANIC SOY MILK
Thanks for your sharing. It's a big surprise.
By the way, are the ORGANIC soy milk and other ORGANIC SOY products okay or not?
Would you please provide some research papers for my reference as well.
Thanks again.
#11: Thank you...
for posting this. I am a new vegan and am very interested in adopting a healthful lifestyle & diet. I have cut out refined and processed soy foods from our family' diet as much as possible, but still eat organic non-gmo Tofu a couple of times a week, because I actually enjoy it so. To clarify, as the poster above has asked - this should be safe correct?
#12: Tofu
Hi!
Organic tofu is definitely better than non-organic which is pretty much guaranteed to be GMO. I'd suggest you get the extra firm tofu with nigiri if you want to eat tofu. And although certainly tofu is not the health food it is marketed to be, it is a far better choice than soy milk, soy cheese, soy meat etc. I wouldn't eat tofu more than a couple of times a week.
Pay close attention to your health and that of your family - although some people do fine as vegans, I think it is difficult for many to be optimally healthy on a vegan diet, as many actually need the high purine meats to optimize their metabolic engines. And getting adequate vitamin B12 is a real issue.
Best of luck to you and your family! :)
Vreni Gurd
Health and Vitality Coach
Corrective Exercise Specialist
BPHE, CHEK 3, HLC 2
www.wellnesstips.ca
Thank you again for that information. I cook vegan meals at home using mostly homemade wheat gluten & legumes, however my daughter still consumes dairy products & some meat as she's a picky eater and her health comes first to me above all else - I don't give her soy at all. My husband is also more reluctant vegetarian than anything and still consumes meat on the odd occassion. I also take my B12 supplements to ensure that I am healthy & strong for my family, and truthfully am eating healthier now than ever! (I never thought about what I was consuming before making the switch to vegetarianism). Thanks again for the info...I'll check back in often!
My boyfriend is vegetarian, and because of that I am usually having free meat food as well – of course the majority of this food is based on soy content. But there is something strange that I found in one of our burgers: bekunis tea. What is bekunis tea? Is this ingredient ok in our food?
#15: Not sure
Hard to know what bekunis tea is without seeing a list of ingredients ... If the soy you and your boyfriend is eating is stuff like miso, natto, soy sauce and tempeh, that is perfectly healthy. It is the soy isolate in burgers, cheese, milk etc. I'd be concerned about. You may want to pay close attention to any symptoms that show up that may come from eating too much isolated soy products. Kaayla Daniels' book "The Whole Soy Story" may be a worthwhile read.
All my best,
Vreni Gurd
Health and Vitality Coach
Corrective Exercise Specialist
BPHE, CHEK 3, HLC 2
www.wellnesstips.ca
I drink an organic soy drink 3-4 times a week that is 12% soy and 9% rice. Does this drink have the bad isolate properties you were talking about? I try to avoid all soy products since I read awhile back in a book that they are not healthy. But I don't know what else to put on my cereal since I cannot find a non-pasteurized non-homogenized milk. Is my soy/rice drink okay?
As a side note, I really enjoy your blog and think your answers and knowledge are top-notch! Thank you!
Hi there,
In my neck of the woods there are lots of available rice milks or almond milks for sale. Can you find those milks near you? I would read the ingredient list and be sure they contain no vegetable oils like canola, but they would be a far better choice than soy milk.
I'm really glad you like the my blog! :)
Vreni Gurd
Health and Vitality Coach
Corrective Exercise Specialist
BPHE, CHEK 3, HLC 2
www.wellnesstips.ca
This article is largely uninformed, and contains much speculative info touting it as fact. For a more well-researched opinion see the link below.
http://www.metaproteomicslabs.com/pp-soy.asp
Check it out... lots of research and comments about the soy that is commonly used in studies (often GMO, heavy pesticide use, etc.), compared to the soy that many North Americans consume (more often than not "GMO free" and organic).
If you're consuming animal products (even some organic!!) you are consuming animals that are fed a diet LARGELY BASED ON SOY! Problematic.
Again, the "additives" in foods derived from soy are isolated constituents, not a whole food, and typically come from GM soy... its no wonder people have allergies/health problems with soy when they are consuming these foods. Stick with soy in whole food form, and buy non GMO and organic!
Hi mj
I agree that most factory farmed animals eat soy and this is a huge problem. I advocate grass-fed animals. I also advocate a whole food diet and agree that soy isolate is not a whole food, and that it usually comes for GM soy. I admit that I did not emphasize the GM problem very much in the article, and that alone is a critical reason to avoid non-organic soy.
I also stated that some soy, specifically organic fermented soy, is actually quite healthy. I don't think soy isolate products like soy milk, soy cheese, soy burgers are at all healthy, particularly if they are non-organic and therefore GMO, and also because the methods used in American factories to make these products are not the methods originally used in Asia, where the soy was carefully fermented to remove the phytates.
The point was to choose your soy carefully, and most of what is on the market and advertised as healthy, is highly processed and is not, in my opinion.
Vreni Gurd
Health and Vitality Coach
Corrective Exercise Specialist
BPHE, CHEK 3, HLC 2
www.wellnesstips.ca
#20: breast cancer
Some have raised the question as to whether soy products are safe. The biggest question was whether they affect the risk of breast cancer...
#21: bottom line?
im sorry to re ask the same questions as everyone else but just for a definitive answer, organic soy foods as well as the ones you listed as good for you, are good for you right? I'm wondering because i would like to cut down on my meat intake, not completely but a decent amount, and wanted to use edamame beans, legumes,milk as a protein replacement. also i am a very active male and work out twice daily, and would not really want my testosterone levels to drop. Sorry for repeating what many others have already asked,thank you.
ps. is this research all relatively new and correct as of 2010/2011?
Hi there,
I would suggest avoiding soy, apart from the short list at the bottom (miso, tempeh, natto and tamari). Soy is NOT healthy, unless it is fermented.
Organic soy may not be GMO, but it still is very estrogenic and ups the requirement for other nutrients along with all the problems explained above. The problems way outweigh the benefits. Yes, your testosterone will drop.
I don't know why you are wanting to cut down on your meat intake. You think it is unhealthy? You think it is inhumane? Harmful to the environment?
If you choose your meat carefully, you can make a choice that is very nourishing for you, does not damage the environment, and the animals live a good life only having one bad day. And we all have one bad day, when you think about it.
Choose free-range beef, bison, goat etc. where the animals are eating their natural diet of grass, (avoid factory-farmed meat), and they enjoy their life outside grazing on outdoor pasture.
It is the factory-farmed meats that are not only unhealthy, but also inhumane (all their days are terrible), and very harmful to the environment. Before you reduce your meat intake, read the www.westonaprice.org website.
If you want more info on soy, read Daniella Kayla's book, The Whole Soy Story. I put a link above.
Anyway, I hope that helps,
Vreni Gurd BPHE
Health and Vitality Coach
Corrective Exercise Specialist
Certified Integrated Somatic Therapist (INT)
Metabolic Typing Advisor
Post new comment
Author: Details
First Name
Vreni
Last Name
Gurd
Degrees
BPHE, HLC 2, CHEK 3, CSEP-CEP, NSCA, ACSM
Short Bio
I have always been interested in what we can do to make ourselves as healthy as possible. We cannot change our genetics, but there is much that is within our control that can have an impact on whether we are healthy or whether we suffer with pain and disease.
I was the top graduating student at the University of Toronto in Physical and Health Education in 1992, where I studied anatomy, physiology, exercise physiology, nutrition and how exercise can improve health. In 1997 moved to Vancouver and started a personal-training business.
I became frustrated by my inability to help my clients through their various aches and pains, and pursued further education through the CHEK Institute in San Diego. I learned an incredible amount, and became far more effective with my clients suffering from low-back pain, but still found some clients did not respond as I felt they should and I didn't understand why.
I began to read and read. I began to appreciate how nutrition and other lifestyle factors can have a huge impact on healing or the lack of healing. It became obvious to me that there is a lot more to orthopeadic problems than simply looking at the physical. I took the CHEK Holistic Lifestyle Consultation course which solidified what I had been learning. Disease is a function of bodily systems being out of balance, and when we do what is necessary to bring the individual back into balance our health is restored.
My hope is that through this site you can travel the wellness journey with me and prevent illness, or if you are ill, you can learn some ways to become well again.
Advertisements
Network: Discussion 
Relevant Resources
-
Medline Plus
Encyclopedic health and medical reference provided by US National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health.
-
MyPyramid.gov
MyPyramid provides personalized diet plans and interactive tools to help you assess, plan and improve your food choices.
-
Health Hotlines
National Library of Medicine offers online database of toll-free phone services to help you deal with urgent patient issues.
I do remember reading in this report by Arthur Robinson, that soy can actually conteract the beneficial effect of reducing nutrient intake as a cure for squamous cell carcinoma in hairless mice, so I stopped using all soy and soy products.
I just didn't realize I may actually be taking it unknowing.
I guess I'm going to have to be more diligent about reading food labels in the future.
Thanks for that info!
Marc
Living with MCL